


Grow, Learn, Heal

by yourekindof_weird



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: (typical to MCU), Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Gen, Identity Reveal, M/M, Minor Character Death, Ricky and Peter are cousins, School Shootings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:33:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21944404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourekindof_weird/pseuds/yourekindof_weird
Summary: “I don’t have my suit.”“You don’t have your suit? Why do you not have your suit?”“I didn’t think that Utah was going to need Spider-Man!”Ricky Bowen and Peter Parker are cousins.
Relationships: Big Red/Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series), Carlos/Seb Matthew-Smith, Gina Porter/Nini Salazar-Roberts, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Ricky Bowen & Peter Parker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 103





	Grow, Learn, Heal

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god I had no idea where I was going with this and then it got angsty I'm so sorry. What have I done?
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS in end notes.

“Oh shit! It’s 8:00?” Peter glances around the lab, frantically looking for all of his belongings. "

“Uh. Yes?” Tony raises an eyebrow. “You good, kid?”

“I’ve gotta go!”

“What? I thought you were staying the night,” Tony puts down the wrench in his hand. It’s Friday, and Peter usually stays the night so that he can be at the tower for most of Saturday.

“Um. No?” Peter’s shoving a bunch of his stuff into his backpack. “I told you last week. And Yesterday. I’m visiting my cousin for a week. May’s brother is getting divorced so we’re going over to be... emotional support, I guess.”

“Oh. Must have slipped my mind.”

“How?” Harley, who has been watching this all unfold in amusement, cocks his head to the side. “Three days ago you gave me permission to go with them.”

“I did?” Tony’s head tilts to match Harley's.

“Yep,” Peter says.

“Huh,” Tony ponders. “What about school? Why aren’t you going over Christmas break?”

“May has to work then,” Peter explains. “And it’s fine if I miss a few days of school. I’m way ahead of everybody anyway.”

“Oh. Where are you going, again?”

Peter sighs and Harley laughs. “Utah,” Peter tells Tony. 

“I can’t believe you’re leaving me alone for a week to go to  _ Utah _ !” Tony puts a hand over his heart in mock offense. 

“Abby’s still gonna be here. And your own daughter, let’s not forget about Morgan.” Harley says. 

“Abby likes Pepper more and Morgan doesn’t count. She’s two.”

Peter ignores him. “We gotta go,” he says to Harley. 

“See ya, old man!” Harley calls to Tony as he follows Peter into the elevator. As the doors close, Harley wraps an arm around Peter’s shoulders.

When they first met, Peter had taken one look at Harley- whose wavy hair had been falling in his face, a smirk gracing his lips- and blushed profusely. Peter hadn’t known at the time, but apparently Harley’s mind had stuttered to a halt for a second upon first seeing Peter.

Now? They’re happy to call themselves boyfriends. 

“Tell me about your cousin,” Harley says. “Ricky, right?”

Peter hums. “Ricky. We haven’t seen each other since before my spider bite. He’s really nice. Uses his skateboard to go everywhere. Goes to the school where High School Musical was filmed.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn. Abby used to watch those movies all the time.”

“I know all the words to  _ Get’cha Head in the Game _ ,” the elevator doors open and they head to Harley’s car. Tony gave it to him for his birthday last year. 

“Bop to the Top,” Harley says, “Will never leave my mind for as long as I live.”

The doorbell rings at around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. Ricky’s dad said he’d be back from getting groceries at 2:00, yet here Ricky is,  _ alone.  _

He hasn’t seen his aunt or cousin since he and Peter were in middle school. It’s not that he’s nervous about it. He’s just worried that  _ Peter  _ will be nervous, which will make Ricky second guess not being nervous and  _ make  _ him nervous.

Okay, he’s nervous.

He and Peter have always gotten along well and Ricky is nervous about that not being true anymore. They’re both in high school now! They’ve changed. Ricky likes  _ musicals _ now. 

The doorbell rings again, startling Ricky. He rushes to the door, pulling it open. 

Aunt May hasn’t changed one bit. She smiles warmly at Ricky and wraps him in a tight hug that he didn’t know he needed. He returns it in kind, smiling.

Peter, on the other hand, has definitely changed. He’s way taller than he used to be, for one, and he’s definitely put on some muscle. He’s not wearing glasses anymore, so he must have gotten contact lenses or something. He stands ever so slightly more confident than he used to.

“Ricky!” Peter says once May is finished hugging Ricky. Peter launches himself at Ricky, who stumbles back, caught off guard by the sudden hug attack. 

Peter pulls back from the hug and smiles widely. Ricky doesn’t even know why he was worried in the first place. Peter’s always been…  _ Peter _ . He used to make friends at the park when they were little all the time. 

“Hi,” says someone from behind Peter and May. Ricky has never seen him before. He must be Harley, Peter’s friend. 

“Hey, I’m Ricky. Nice to meet you.”

“Harley,” the boy says. “Do you really go to the school where High School Musical was filmed?”

“Um, yes?”  
“Huh.”

Ricky helps carry in their bags and shows them to the guest room (May and Peter remember where it is, though). Aunt May says she’ll sleep on the couch in the living room so Peter and Harley can take the queen bed in the guest room.

“No funny business, though,” she tells the two boys.  _ Oh,  _ Ricky thinks when Harley winks at May and Peter flushes bright red,  _ they’re  _ boy _ friends.  _

Peter gets a worried look in his when he notices that Ricky has picked up on his relationship status. Ricky figures it’s probably because Peter never officially came out to him, so he sends Peter a smile. Thankfully, his cousin relaxes. Ricky decides that Peter will be the first person he comes out to as bisexual. Maybe he’ll be able to give Ricky advice about how he can tell Big Red he likes him.

On Monday, Ricky has to go to school and uncle Mike has to go to work. May goes to visit some old friends of hers, leaving Peter and Harley to their own devices for the day. 

“We should go to the school,” Harley suggests.

“What? Why?” 

“I don’t know. But we could just say we’re checking out the school ‘cause we think we might be moving here.”

“Both of us?” Peter raises a skeptical eyebrow. “That doesn’t make any sense, Harley.”

“Does it have to?” Peter gives Harley a look and his boyfriend sighs. “Fine.”

“We can go pick Ricky up after school, though,” Peter decides. “Why don’t we go see a movie?”

“That’s a great idea, darlin’,” Harley grins. “We can put it on the card that Tony gave me.” 

The movie they end up seeing is mediocre, but Harley has no regrets with charging it to Tony’s accounts. When it’s over, they wander around town a little bit. Harley buys some Christmas presents for Abby and Peter does the same for May. 

“When are we supposed to get Ricky?” Harley asks.

“Oh.”

“It probably says when the school day ends on the school’s website.”

“What if he has rehearsal?”

“Rehearsal?” Harley quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah. He’s in the school’s production of High School Musical. He’s Troy.”

“Seriously?”

They get to the school fifteen minutes after it ends. It doesn’t matter, though. Lights flash and sirens blare. A growing crowd shouts and cries. Nobody has left the school yet. 

Ricky heads to rehearsal at the end of the day, talking with Gina and Big Red. Nini, Kourtney, and Ashlyn are already there when they arrive. So are Carlos and Seb, who are sitting on the piano bench and speaking to each other in hushed voices. 

EJ shows up a few seconds after Ricky sits down, laughing about something with the guy who plays Ryan. Ricky is happy to say that there is no longer any tension between him and EJ, especially ever since they made up with Nini and she started going out with Gina. EJ sits down by Ricky and fills him and Red in on the joke.

This rehearsal is just for the main cast, so the ensemble gets a day off (lucky them, Ricky thinks). Kourtney is there because they’re going to go through some scenes in costume, and Big Red is there to help move props around.

“Alright, everyone,” Miss Jenn walks into the room and claps her hands together, “We’re going to be-”

Ricky doesn’t know what it is at first, just that it’s a loud noise and there’s screaming. 

“Oh my god,” Carlos’ eyes go wide. 

“Hide,” Miss Jenn whispers.

  
  


“What’s going on?” Harley asks.

“Do you go here, kid?” the police officer responds.

“No. His cousin does, though,” he points at Peter, who hasn’t peeled his eyes away from the school since they arrived.

“Alright, kid. I think it would be best if you-”

“Smith!” Another officer shouts. “We’re getting reports that there are three of them!”

The officer that Harley is talking to, Smith, turns away from him, forgetting about him entirely. “Three?” he yells back. 

“Three,” the other officer confirms. “All armed. They started shooting seven minutes after school ended, so there are still lots of kids in there.”

  
  


Ricky ends up in a corner with EJ, Carlos, and Gina. He can see Big Red and Kourtney from where he is, but Nini, Seb, Ashlyn, the guy who plays Ryan, and Miss Jenn are nowhere in sight. 

Gina is shaking. EJ is stock still, eyes clouded. A tear runs down Carlos’ cheek. 

Ricky meets eyes with Big Red from across the room. ‘ _ I like you,’  _ Ricky mouths, because he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get a chance to say it out loud. Red nods at him, and though there are tears streaming down his face, he gives Ricky a small smile. He gets it, Ricky thinks, and he likes him back. 

But they might…

They might die today and they won’t be able to act on it. And Ricky won’t ever see his dad again. And he’ll never see his mom again. He’ll never meet his mom’s new boyfriend, no matter how much Ricky doesn’t like him. 

He’ll never get to go onstage and perform in a musical.

  
  


“I don’t have my suit.”

“You don’t have your suit? Why do you not have your suit?”

“I didn’t think that Utah was going to need Spider-Man!”

“Peter!”

“I know!”

“You’re lucky I brought your webshooters!”

“You brought my webshooters? Why did you bring my webshooters?”

“I saw them in your room and thought you just forgot to pack them!”

“You’re amazing, Harley!”

“Go save the day, Spider-Man.”

The door flies open. 

Gina’s hands fly over her mouth. EJ bites down hard on his lip. Carlos curls in on himself. Ricky can’t move. His eyes lock onto Big Red’s. Red holds his gaze, his hand held tight in Kourtney’s.

Ricky hears someone gasp.

It’s strange, Ricky thinks. The movies never really tell you just how loud guns are. Or how bright they are. 

He hears a hard, loud thump. 

Someone’s been shot.

Ricky never wants to hear the sound of a body hitting the ground like that ever again. 

Ricky can’t see who it is. Can’t even see the shooters from where he’s sitting. He supposes that that’s a good thing, because it means he’s in a good hiding place, but now he doesn’t know who’s been shot.

He just knows who hasn’t been. Red, Kourtney, EJ, Gina, and Carlos. But that leaves five other possibilities. 

  
  


Peter hears gunfire and rushes to its source. He’s wearing a sweater with the hood pulled up, but it’ll do nothing to hide his identity. He finds that he doesn’t really care. There are lives in danger.

His gaze locks onto a door at the end of the hallway. It’s slightly ajar. The back of his neck prickles; his spidey sense. That’s where the danger is. 

He jumps up onto the ceiling and the hood falls from his head. He creeps along the ceiling to the door. He hears laughing inside, then a scream, and slowly peaks in.

Three gunmen, like the police said.

Two of them have rifles in their hands. The third has his rifle strapped to his back. In one of his hands is a  _ revolver,  _ of all things. In the other? He’s holding onto a girl by her long, brown hair. The revolver is pointed at her head. Beside them is a body. A boy. Dead.

Peter assesses the situation, then swings into action. 

  
  


Ricky hears Nini scream and can’t stop himself from looking. He knows it’ll give away their hiding place, but Gina, EJ, and Carlos have all reacted too, so it doesn’t even matter.

There are three of them, and one has a gun to Nini’s head. He’s about to pull the trigger.

And then he doesn’t, because… is that a  _ web?  _ A web is pulling the gun from his hand. It startles to man so much that he lets go of Nini, who scrambles away. 

Someone jumps into the room and the other two gunmen immediately start to shoot while the third pulls another gun from his back. The newcomer doesn’t get hit once. Because he’s  _ crawling on the walls and ceiling _ . 

“Spider-Man?” Ricky hears Big Red say. And yeah, whoever that is has the same powers that Spider-Man does. He’s even fighting the same way Spider-Man does. He’s got the webs and everything.

But why the hell would Spider-Man be here?

All three gunmen fall to the ground, unconscious and wrapped in web. 

Peter stands above them, panting slightly. He brushes his hair away from his eyes, then reaches towards his left shoulder. It’s bleeding a little, but it seems like the blood flow is slowing down quicker than it should. He only got grazed by a bullet. 

Gina moves first, rushing to Nini and pulling her into a hug. Kourtney is welcomed into the hug, too. EJ and Ashlyn find each other and don’t let go. Carlos and Seb sink onto their knees, arms wrapped tight around each other. 

Ricky feels a tap on his shoulder. Big Red. 

“I like you, too,” Big Red says. They hug, and when they pull away from each other, their hands meet. They’re safe. They’re okay.

Then Miss Jenn shrieks.

The guy who plays Ryan is on the ground, blood pooling around him. Dead.

“We should get out of here,” Peter says.

Peter. Who swung in here and saved them. Peter. Who has superpowers or something. Peter. Ricky’s  _ cousin _ who could have  _ died _ . 

“Who are you?” EJ asks. 

“I’m…” Peter bites his lip. “Um-”

Ricky launches himself at Peter in much the same way that Peter launched himself at Ricky just two days ago. He wraps his cousin in a hug. He doesn’t even care if he’s getting Peter’s blood all over himself.

“Peter,” Ricky says, “What they hell?”

“Ricky,” Peter says. He sags, finally letting himself be worried. “You’re okay.”

“You know each other?” Big Red asks.

Peter hums, pulling back from the hug. “We’re cousins.”

Ricky’s friends and teacher agree not to tell anybody that they saw Spider-Man’s face. They agree to keep everything a secret. When they get out of the school, Harley kisses Peter so passionately that Peter thinks he may just faint.

He notices that Ricky is holding hands with a boy. Big Red, if Peter remembers correctly. Peter thinks he might have met the other boy before, when he and Ricky were in middle school. He’s glad that Ricky has someone to lean on.

Aunt May and uncle Mike find them in the crowd, tears in their eyes. May gives Peter a knowing look. 

If Peter hadn’t been around, things could have turned out much worse. Still, nothing will ever be the same for this community.

  
  


A week after the shooting, the school is open again. Peter, Aunt May, and Harley are back in New York City. 

Big Red is Ricky’s boyfriend.

Along with the rest of the musical’s cast, they try their best to advocate for gun safety. They raise money for the families of those that lost their lives. Six students in total. 

Ricky’s cousin is, in fact, Spider-Man. It’s a lot to take in. It explains the muscle gain and the lack of glasses. Harley, as it turns out, lives with Tony Stark. Stark donates a shit ton of money to the school. 

Nothing will ever be the same. They all get nightmares. Nini sometimes can’t even come to school. EJ can barely let Ashlyn out of his sight, which both annoys and endears his cousin to no end. Carlos and Seb remain attached at the hip, but now they also have to bring each other down from panic attacks. 

But they have support. Their parents, Miss Jenn. Spider-Man. 

When they finally put on the musical, many weeks after they were originally supposed to do it, they do it in honour of those who were killed. Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the newly dubbed ‘Iron-Lad’ show up to see it. 

Things will never be the same, but people can grow, learn, and heal. That is why Ricky holds onto the hope that someday, no matter how far away that day is, they’ll eventually be okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS:  
> School shooting, guns, death. 
> 
> I don't want to use gun violence and school shootings as simply a plot device to further a story or make it more angsty. Gun violence is a serious topic. I also don't want to make it look like everything has a happy ending. Like I said, Ricky has hope, but for some people, they're affected by things like this for their entire lives.
> 
> So, here are some gun control organizations to check out if you want:
> 
> March for Our Lives:  
> https://marchforourlives.com 
> 
> Coalition for Gun Control (this one is Canadian):  
> http://guncontrol.ca/
> 
> The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:  
> https://www.csgv.org/


End file.
